president obama has spoken. he's promising he will not sign any bill that mortgages our future to pay for handouts to the wealthiest 2% of americans. i only hope house republicans have been listening. >> we've been responsible, even as we've remained firm on this point. no tax increases now for promised spending cuts that won't materialize later. >> cnn political director mark preston is live from washington this morning. very nice to see you, mark. so the house is back in session today, and so far there are no talks scheduled between top republicans and the president, we understand. >> no, that's true, zoraida. in fact we haven't seen the congressional leadership and president obama meet since november 16th. now there were staff discussions over the thanksgiving holiday. they don't seem to be as productive as some people had hoped, as you said, we are now 35 days until the fiscal cliff. what we do know, though, is that president obama did reach out to house speaker john boehner. he is the republican, the senate